Interpreting Variability in Thule Inuit Architecture: A Case Study from the Canadian High Arctic

2001 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Dawson

The semisubterranean whale-bone house is one of the most recognizable aspects of Thule Inuit culture. Following their arrival in the Canadian Arctic approximately 1,000 years ago, Thule peoples built these impressive and often enigmatic dwellings for occupation during the long winter months. Variability in the architectural properties of semisubterranean house forms has traditionally been used by archaeologists to infer cultural and historical relationships between regions, and establish seasonal and/or functional distinctions in usage. An analysis of 31 semisubterranean houses from two Thule winter village sites in the Canadian High Arctic using multivariate statistics and computer-aided drafting reveals a range of architectural variability that may represent attempts by Thule builders to accommodate 1) fluctuations in the availability of key building materials, 2) differences in household mobility, or 3) whaling-related social differentiation between households. These results have important implications for understanding the relationships among house form, environment, and culture in Thule Inuit society.

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 457-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Zhao ◽  
K. Strong ◽  
C. Adams ◽  
R. Schofield ◽  
X. Yang ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-374
Author(s):  
Mark B Salter

Abstract Canada's policies to assert and maintain sovereignty over the High Arctic illuminate both the analytical leverage and blind spots of Foucault's influential Security, Territory, Population (2007) schema for understanding modern governmentality. Governmental logics of security, sovereignty, and biopolitics are contemporaneous and concomitant. The Arctic case demonstrates clearly that the Canadian state messily uses whatever governmental tools are in its grasp to manage the Inuit and claim territorial sovereignty over the High North. But, the case of Canadian High Arctic policies also illustrates the limitations of Foucault's schema. First, the Security, Territory, Population framework has no theorization of the international. In this article I show the simultaneous implementation of Canadian security-, territorial-, and population-oriented policies over the High Arctic. Next, I present the international catalysts that prompt and condition these polices and their specifically settler-colonial tenor. Finally, in line with the Foucauldian imperative to support the “resurrection of subjugated knowledges” (Foucault 2003, 7), I conclude by offering some of the Inuit ways of resisting and reshaping these policies, proving how the Inuit shaped Canadian Arctic sovereignty as much as Canadian Arctic sovereignty policies shaped the Inuit.


Botany ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot Antoniades ◽  
Marianne S.V. Douglas ◽  
John P. Smol

Streams are amongst the most sensitive ecosystems in Arctic regions to environmental change. Although diatoms are excellent indicators of environmental change, little information is available about stream diatom distributions across the vast Canadian High Arctic. We sampled 42 streams from nine islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to study their diatom floras and evaluate the influences of biogeographic and environmental variables on species distributions. Highly divergent diatom communities were identified, with 100% species overturn between the most dissimilar communities. Taxa including Hannaea arcus (Ehrenberg) Patrick were characteristic of streams from all regions; other common taxa included Nitzschia perminuta (Grunow) Peragallo, Rossithidium petersenii (Hustedt) Round & Bukhtiyarova, Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki, and Eucocconeis laevis (Østrup) H. Lange-Bertalot. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that diatom assemblages were significantly related to differences in pH, temperature, latitude, and longitude, which together explained 14.7% of species variability. Analysis of similarities indicated that communities did not differ significantly between epilithic and epiphytic samples and that there were weak but significant differences between the diatom communities in our three regions. These data provide important baseline information for future biomonitoring efforts as well as for paleolimnological studies of past stream hydrology.


2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1859-1877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon R. Osinski ◽  
Pascal Lee ◽  
John Parnell ◽  
John G. Spray ◽  
Martin Baron

Botany ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 369-389
Author(s):  
Paul C. Sokoloff ◽  
Colin J. Chapman ◽  
Lynn J. Gillespie

Hybridization and introgression between two closely related but taxonomically distinct Arctic lousewort species — the circumpolar Pedicularis hirsuta L. (predominantly eastern Arctic in Canada) and the amphi-Beringian, western Canadian Pedicularis langsdorffii Fisch. ex Steven subsp. arctica (R. Br.) Pennell ex Hultén — is documented here for the first time; only the second confirmed case of introgression in this widespread genus. Multivariate and univariate analysis of morphological characters successfully delineate the two species as morphologically similar but distinct taxa. Analysis of nrDNA ITS sequences likewise differentiate the two taxa in all sampled instances. Analysis of cpDNA atpI–atpH sequences also separate these taxa, except in 12 individuals of P. langsdorffii subsp. arctica, which possess the same haplotype as P. hirsuta. Where these two species overlap in range in the Canadian High Arctic, chloroplast transfer from P. hirsuta to P. langsdorffii subsp. arctica is detected, and morphologically intermediate hybids have been identified, indicating hybridization and subsequent backcrossing. Here we discuss the relationships between these two species, and provide a key that is useful for differentiating them.


Polar Record ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 28 (164) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin O. Jeffries ◽  
Greta J. Reynolds ◽  
John M. Miller

AbstractLandsat images of northern Axel Heiberg Island and northern Ellesmere Island, including part of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve in the Canadian high Arctic, are presented. These are believed to be the first Landsat images ever to be obtained of this region, which is north of latitude 80°N and once thought to be beyond the meaningful imaging range of Landsat. A general description of glaciological phenomena in the almost cloud-free images, and some of the attributes of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve, demonstrates some of the features and processes that can be imaged by Landsat in the region. New findings concerning the state and position of the front of the surge-type Otto Glacier, icebergs in Otto Fiord, and the extent and surface morphology of the Nansen Ice Plug indicate the capabilities of Landsat to contribute to original glaciological research in the region.


Polar Record ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 20 (129) ◽  
pp. 549-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balaram B. Dey

Past forecasts by geologists of potentially large oil and natural gas reserves in the North American Arctic (eg, Prudhoe Bay, the Mackenzie delta, and the Canadian Arctic islands) are coming closer to reality. Results from Canmar (Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd of Calgary) drill ships working in the southern Beaufort Sea continue to support the prediction of considerable hydrocarbon deposits in this area. The most significant discovery, gas amounting to 0.48–0.50 trillion m3 [17–18 trillion ft3] was made by Panarctic Oils Limited in the Canadian High Arctic, in particular the Drake field off Melville Island and the surrounding region (Star Phoenix, 1980a). Panarctic Oils is a government-industry consortium; Petro-Canada owns 45 per cent of the shares and provides the bulk of the exploration budget.


2002 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
MP Heide-Jørgensen ◽  
P Richard ◽  
M Ramsay ◽  
S Akeeagok

Three ice entrapments of Monodontids have been reported in the western North Atlantic since 1993. Hunters in Disko Bay, West Greenland, discovered one in March 1994 that included about 150 narwhals (Monodon monoceros). The entrapment occurred during a sudden cold period which caused ice to form rapidly. The trapped whales were subject to hunting, but about 50 of the killed whales could not be retrieved in the ice. The whales were trapped in a small opening in the ice and because of that they would probably have succumbed even if not discovered by hunters. Two entrapments involving white whales or belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) occurred in the eastern Canadian Arctic in May 1999; one in Lancaster Sound discovered by polar bear (Ursus maritimus) researchers and one in Jones Sound discovered by hunters. The first included one bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and about 40 belugas that were being preyed upon by polar bears. The second involved at least 170 belugas, of which about 100 were killed by polar bears and 17 were taken by hunters. The entrapments in Disko Bay and Jones Sound both occurred in areas where entrapments have previously been reported, whereas the one in Lancaster Sound was in a new area.


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